Joe Biden knows he's got a lot riding on this: On March 7, the US president will deliver his traditional State of the Union address to Congress. The context is unique: He's hoping to win a second term in November, but, at 81, his candidacy is weakened by his age, something he can't do anything about. Never before has the US had a president in his 80s.
For more than two years now, opinion polls have confirmed that his advanced age is considered prohibitive by a growing majority of American voters. On March 3, the latest New York Times election barometer showed that this judgment is now shared by a majority of those who voted for him in 2020.
Biden has insisted that he is capable of performing his duties, but so far he has failed to convince the skeptics. Instead, he has retreated into a defensive stance, notably when, a month ago, he awkwardly reacted to a report by a special counsel investigating mishandling of classified documents after his departure from the vice presidency in 2016, which had insisted heavily on a "poor memory." The effect was all the more damaging as this publication coincided with an embarrassing series of blunders on names of politicians or countries.
Flattering results
If he considers himself to be fit to lead, the president now has no choice but to proactively address these questions – starting with those from elected members of Congress. This is an exercise which, if he can manage it, may give him the opportunity to showcase his record. He has nothing to be ashamed of, far from it, especially in the face of the chaos that has taken hold of the Republican Party. The US economy is showing flattering results, the alliances that bolster Washington have been strengthened, and the need to commit to renewable energies has been acknowledged. Unfortunately, this record has been overshadowed by the controversy surrounding his age.
Likewise, Biden certainly has everything to gain by going out to meet voters without delay, an exercise in which he has long excelled. If he avoided it, it would be at his own expense. He has so far justified his bid by positioning himself as a protector of US institutions against his likely opponent, Donald Trump, who has never been able to concede his 2020 defeat, and whose program so far boils down to one word – revenge – and the promise of a purge directed against all those who opposed his supporters' attempted power grab to overturn the election results, on January 6, 2021.
This undignified behavior should have disqualified him. The delaying tactics of this former businessman, renowned for his talented use of lawsuits, have so far enabled him to avoid answering for his many misdeeds before the courts. Trump has also been helped by the Republican Party's blindness – which smacks of a deplorable cult of personality – at a time when he is also, at nearly 78, beginning to feel the burden of age. The stakes involved in this presidential election, which extend far beyond the borders of the US, mean that Biden must convince voters that he is capable of serving a second term.